Undercover

Chapter 1

"Did you plant the bug under the counter?" I asked David as I looked around the café to ensure everything was in order.

"It's the third time you've asked me, Sarah." He replied as he looked up from his computer.

"Well, did you?" An awkward silence occurred as we both knew he didn't do it. I gave him a bored look and waited for him to do what I asked him so many times. I could do it myself, but I wanted David to get his ass up and stop looking at the computer. After a long time of staring at him, he finally got up and started planting the bug under the counter.

"Happy?" he said ironically and went back to his laptop. All the curtains in the café were drawn so nobody could look inside. Several bugs were placed all around the café and everybody seemed to be reaching the final steps of the preparations. My stomach was turning, and my nerves finally started to play their tricks on me. It was my first real mission after graduating from the academy. After finishing my degree in finance I applied for a trainee program at the FBI.

I have had small tasks so far, but now I felt like I was being thrown into the dangerous pool with the big sharks. I would not have wanted it another way. This was what I had been waiting for, for such a long time. And now it was finally happening even though I was nervous. This mission was challenging in more than one way. Not only would my acting skills be tested, but I had to risk my life, basically, for this mission.

Henry, my superior, thought I was ready for this. He had seen me in action in the other small tasks and thought I would be the perfect candidate for this job. For years they have been trying to take down an American-Italian gang member called Rafael Lombardi, but he was slippery as an eel and somehow managed to get away every single time. He was believed to be the head of their little criminal club right after his father, Giuseppe Lombardi retired a few years back. My team had been successful in catching a few of the members, but Henry was done playing it safe and wanted to take down the big fishes one by one.

And I was an asset to the means. I had to go undercover and infiltrate the gang. It was no easy task as many of the others had tried before, but now as I said, Henry was done playing it by the rules. He wanted me to get the details by getting close to Rafael's brother, Gabriel Lombardi. The initial plan was to get close to Rafael, but he was a tough wall to crack, so the second-best option was to go after the brother who was also part of the group. For months we had been observing him and trying to create a pattern of his whereabouts.

For starters, we found out that he came to this café in downtown Manhattan every single morning to get a coffee with a croissant for breakfast. So now my job was to play the role of the newly employed barista to catch his attention. I looked down at my watch, 6.45. In 15 minutes the café would open, and I had to play my part.

"Are you ready for this?" Henry asked and placed a hand on my shoulder. I could see he was also a bit nervous but tried to keep his usually cold and serious face. Behind him my eyes fell on Jake, who was sitting on the edge of the table with his arms crossed staring directly at me. He did not like this at all. We had a huge fight about this a few days ago and he hadn't really spoken to me since. Jake was not exactly my boyfriend, but neither just a colleague either. We hooked up a couple of times, secretly. No one knew about us, and I preferred to keep it that way. He didn't want me to go through with this mission, he said it was too dangerous, which I knew was true, but these were the risks I accepted when I applied for the FBI.

I shifted my focus back to Henry and gave him an assuring smile.

"Born ready." I said and adjusted all the wires underneath my clothes. Yesterday, the café owner taught me some of the different drinks and specifically the coffee that Gabriel always ordered.